D&D General How to be a Better DM: One Size Doesn't Fit All

[Baldurs_Underdark]

[...] But in the end, those discussions are less about helping other DMs find their own way than it is to assert our own preferences. [...]

But isn't asserting your own preferences the energy that fuels the internet?

 

[Scott Christian]

Just a quick aside, but I managed to increase my fun a good bit by asking questions on a forum. Or rather, I think it started by being asked questions on a forum....

Ditto, I've definitely gotten good ideas about running games from this and other forums.

I have.

I don't doubt that people can find ideas on a forum they find beneficial. It might even increase their "fun." What I doubt is the fact they needed a forum for it. They could have come up with it on their own - and it might have been better. In my opinion, it probably would have been, not just better, but more fun.

And like I said, a quick solution to something, yup. That happens. A "table problem?" No, I doubt it.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I don't doubt that people can find ideas on a forum they find beneficial. It might even increase their "fun." What I doubt is the fact they needed a forum for it. They could have come up with it on their own - and it might have been better. In my opinion, it probably would have been, not just better, but more fun.

And like I said, a quick solution to something, yup. That happens. A "table problem?" No, I doubt it.

Then doubt it. But they were absolutely ideas I wouldn't have come up with on my own. Sometimes you seriously need outside ideas to get you out of your own personal biases and ruts.

 

[Scott Christian]

Then doubt it. But they were absolutely ideas I wouldn't have come up with on my own. Sometimes you seriously need outside ideas to get you out of your own personal biases and ruts.

Would you mind me asking for an example of a "table problem" you did have that was solved by a forum?

 

[Guest 7034872]

Would you mind me asking for an example of a "table problem" you did have that was solved by a forum?

Sorry to interject, but I have had a bunch of my table problems solved by this very forum and advice I've received from people on it. It's one of the principal reasons I keep coming back here day after day. And no, I do not think I ever would've figured these things out on my own.

As much as I so hate so much of the internet and what it's doing to us, I really have benefited from it in this respect.

 

[Ovinomancer]

I don't doubt that people can find ideas on a forum they find beneficial. It might even increase their "fun." What I doubt is the fact they needed a forum for it. They could have come up with it on their own - and it might have been better. In my opinion, it probably would have been, not just better, but more fun.

And like I said, a quick solution to something, yup. That happens. A "table problem?" No, I doubt it.

This is an odd claim. I mean, sure, discussion here wasn't the only possible way that an idea could be had, but this is just proposing a counterfactual. I could say that had life started and grew on Mars no one would be coming to this forum but one one Mars instead. I mean, so?

Then the claim that a different idea might have been better is kind of the same thing. I could say that an idea that you had for your game on your own might have been better and more fun had you gotten it from here.

And then directly saying that people that have claimed they've received help in thinking here are deluded and/or liars? Weird flex, bro.

 

[hawkeyefan]

I don't doubt that people can find ideas on a forum they find beneficial. It might even increase their "fun." What I doubt is the fact they needed a forum for it. They could have come up with it on their own - and it might have been better. In my opinion, it probably would have been, not just better, but more fun.

And like I said, a quick solution to something, yup. That happens. A "table problem?" No, I doubt it.

You can add me to the list of people who have benefitted from discussion here (and elsewhere).

My RPG experience was largely limited to my specific group and the specific games we played. Primarily D&D of one form or another, with some other games mixed in here and there over the years. And it was that way for pretty much a couple of decades.

The combo of doing something that long with a very small group of people and playing a very select few games meant that although I felt very experienced, that experience was actually pretty narrow.

Talking to folks here helped me realize that a lot of things I assumed to be universal were in fact not so. And my understanding of how RPGs function was actually primarily “how D&D functions”.

I joined here about when 5e came along. This was following a period of frustration with gaming that I’d had. I wasn’t enjoying it and was looking for something else. The timing was i teresting because 5e was a step in the right direction for me, but it wasn't long till I realized I still wanted something else.

Talking with folks here helped me realize what I wanted and what I no longer wanted in RPGs. It made me branch out to new systems and games. It made me research games that were being discussed. It helped me broaden my experience with gaming.

This has in turn spread to members of my longstanding gaming group. We’re now playing more of a variety of games, and focusing on different elements. Additionally, I’ve now also played with more people because of this site.

So yeah, speaking to folks here has significantly impacted my enjoyment of the hobby. I don’t think I would have come to the same place without the site. Certainly I wouldn’t have met and played with folks who are members here, which in itself has been a blast and is enough reason on its own to consider my time here well spent.

 

[Mort]

I don't doubt that people can find ideas on a forum they find beneficial. It might even increase their "fun." What I doubt is the fact they needed a forum for it. They could have come up with it on their own - and it might have been better. In my opinion, it probably would have been, not just better, but more fun.

What an odd claim!

The game I ran last night (1 shot turning into a 2 parter) was lifted directly from a discussion from this forum. Could I have come up with something else? Probably, but thanks to this forum, I didn't have too - and boy did my players have a blast with it!

Seeing as the person who came up with the adventure and how to structure and execute it lives in Australia and I'm in the US (thanks @Flamestrike ), I sincerely doubt it would have happened without access to a forum!

And it's been a goldmine for other concepts and ideas as well.

And like I said, a quick solution to something, yup. That happens. A "table problem?" No, I doubt it.

Why? This forum contains the thoughts of many very experienced DMs and players. Table problems are rarely unique. Having an outside perspective on them Is a big boon.

 

[Scott Christian]

Ok, heard loud and clear. All of you had table problems, be it with problematic players or problematic DMs that were solved from these forums. And they were solved with solutions you could have never come up with on your own.

I take what all of you say as truth. My bad for overestimating people's problem-solving skills.

 

[Mort]

Ok, heard loud and clear. All of you had table problems, be it with problematic players or problematic DMs that were solved from these forums. And they were solved with solutions you could have never come up with on your own.

I take what all of you say as truth. My bad for overestimating people's problem-solving skills.

So rather than acknowledging that you made an overbroad statement you respond by making an even more ridiculous and overbroad statement? Ok.

I mean how is it the least bit controversial to state presenting an issue to a large group of like minded and experienced people may come up with solutions you yourself may not have thought of?